Puget Sound Area Residential Sales Dive in October
Sales in the Puget Sound area dove 27% from October 2007 in a not unexpected result of the national economic turmoil according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Sales also dropped 26% from September’s numbers! The general message conveyed is all the economic tumult plus the uncertainty of electing a new president served to suspend activity in the market. Uncertainty is not a good thing for the real estate market.
Listing activity slowed to 9647 new properties which was the lowest number since September 2007. Inventory is at its lowest level since February. At month end there were 46,189 active residential listings in the MLS system. That’s down 2.5 percent from a year ago when members reported 47,381 active listings. The highest volume so far in 2008 was of 51,817, the total inventory at the end of May.
Prices followed the downturn. For October’s 4,512 closed sales of single family homes and condominiums combined, the median price system-wide was $291,000, down 7.4 percent from a year ago. A comparison with September shows a 1.3 percent decline from the median selling price overall of $295,000.
Prices for completed sales of single family homes (excluding condos) fell about 9 percent last month compared with a year ago. Condominium prices dipped only 3.8 percent overall from a year ago. The median King County Single family homes dropped to under $392,000 which is the first time in 2 1/2 years the median price for single family homes has been under $400,000.
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